Sean’s ADHD? Part 3: Dark Times in 1st Grade

Sean is a 1^st-grader who is bright and active and distractible. He’s also funny and talkative. Consistently finishing his classroom work before the rest of the class, he has been viewed as a behavior problem by his teacher. Even in my office, he is more fidgety than most kids his age. But I couldn’t get around the fact that for the first half of the term, he had a different teacher, with whom he never got in trouble. He didn’t sit quietly, exactly. The previous teacher gave him stuff to do to keep him occupied instead of bored. So even though I thought he might indeed have ADHD, I wasn’t ready to medicate him before figuring out why this became a problem as soon as the new teacher, Mr. Dickson, took over.

I re-evaluated Sean and he was just as before: fidgety, happy, talkative. But he never left the chair during a long discussion, and to each of my questions he responded with a full and articulate answer. As promised in Sean’s ADHD Part 2, I wrote a letter to the teacher. Here’s what I wrote:

Dear Mr. Dickson:

Sean’s parents asked me to evaluate their son, and to write you about some of my assessment. He’s a great kid and I enjoyed the time I spent with him.

As you know, Sean has been struggling somewhat in school. His distractibility, talking out of turn, and occasional disrespect have been issues for him. 

There’s no question that he’s an active child, with some of the motor traits of hyperactivity. He is also a bright child, who clearly understands and retains a lot of the academic material presented to him. It’s important to note that he is not uninterested in school work, and is curious and motivated to learn new things.

He has been disrespectful and sometimes even disobedient. Even so, he absolutely does not meet any of the diagnostic criteria for any disorder characterized by oppositionality, defiance, or conduct problems.

Though his hyperkineticism is longstanding, this has not caused problems for him until a recent change in his classroom situation. Thus even though he might be hyperactive when compared to most children his age, this hyperactivity does not mean that he has ADHD requiring medical treatment. In cases such as his, a behavioral approach will often result in the best outcome.

Sean has said that he is sometimes bored in class. He should be taken at his word. He is not very responsive to negative consequences, so these are of marginal value and might serve to frustrate him. A more effective approach would be to channel his energy in productive ways. If he’s done with his class work, for example, he should be able to access a ‘Bored Bag’ containing 4-5 quiet activities that he can do alone. It would be helpful if he chooses these activities from many choices given to him. 

From what Sean has told me, these might include:

• Some extra or more advanced math problems;
• Headphones and a recorded book;
• Coloring;
• Books.

It is essential that he be able to access these materials without permission, so he doesn’t interrupt you or the class. Ideally, he would also have the freedom to get out of his seat and walk quietly over to another spot, where he could work on some other task. I think he will be relieved to have this freedom.
These recommendations do not imply that he should be allowed to be disrespectful of teachers or disruptive to the class. Before starting this with him, you and his parents should meet with Sean and come up with a set of written rules. They don’t need to be extensive, but they need to be written. They should be simple and specific. For example, ‘you must not have a bad attitude’ is vague and difficult for a child his age to understand. ‘No talking during class,’ is something more likely to be understood. Taking away, as punishment, access to this Bored Bag or to recess—during which he gets to redirect some of that excess motor energy—would be particularly counterproductive. Those are the things that will keep him focused and motivated in the classroom. Try to enlist his help. If he’s fidgety and wanting to get out of his chair, there is no enforcement mechanism that will stop this. He doesn’t do it by choice and it not easy for him to control. Making a rule about him sitting still is setting him up to fail. If this is an issue, ask him to get up and do something helpful, then praise him for it. In this way, he will feel appreciated and not trapped.

There are certain things that ADHD medication can and cannot do. It can help some children sustain their attention, but it won’t do this if they have finished their work and are required to sit still with nothing to do. Indeed, none of us can do that.

Sean is a warm and kind child with a good sense of humor. He needs our help to plan what to do when he’s ‘bored’ and he needs the tools to work with that plan.

Please feel free to call me with your questions.

Only a day or two after mailing the letter, I received a forwarded email from Sean’s mother. She was active in the school, and received this note from a parent of one of Sean’s classmates.

Hello everyone,
I am sending this message because my son has reported to me some very disturbing comments that have been made to some of our children in the classroom.  I have not had an opportunity to speak with Mr. Dickson directly nor have I had the chance to inform the principal of this report because I was just made aware of this tonight. However, if these statements were directed to my child I would be very concerned! 

My son has reported to me that he (Mr. Dickson) told one child (Alice) that kids who talk too much in another country have their "tongues cut out". He said he told the child this because she was talking.    He also reported to me that he told one of the girls to sit her "fat butt" on the chair today when she was attempting to pick up her papers and color pencils off the ground.  He also told me that he often refers to two other boys (directly) as "rotten children" (Sean and Michael).  I am totally shocked that this man would speak to our kids like this!

I do not believe that this is a constructive way to reprimand children but it is a sure way to make them develop low self-esteem.

I am certainly not sending my child to school to be verbally abused by an adult.  I will be at the school bright and early Monday to speak with the principal about this.  The last thing we need is someone belittling our children.  Please speak with your children to confirm this. 

It is our responsibility to make sure that our children receive a good education in an environment that is conducive for them.

Suddenly, the pieces of this story started to fit together really well. More in the next post.